Verizon hit with GPL copyright lawsuit over router software

Verizon becomes the latest company to be tripped up by the GPL. The Software …

Open-source software is very attractive for companies looking to expand their services or quickly get new offerings to market, in part because it's free. Unfortunately, some companies tend to overlook the software license commonly attached to open-source software, the GPL. Verizon is the latest company to do so, and its use of an OSS package in a wireless router has led to a copyright infringement lawsuit from the Software Freedom Law Center.

The SFLC has sued the telecom giant on behalf of the developers of BusyBox, a set of Unix utilities typically used in embedded systems. One of the devices it's found in is the Actiontec MI424WR wireless router, which Verizon distributes to its FiOS customers. Under the terms of version 2 of the GPL, Verizon must include the BusyBox source code to its FiOS customers, which the lawsuit alleges the company has failed to do.

"Our clients licensed BusyBox under the GPL to ensure that all users of the program can access and modify its source code," said Dan Ravicher, legal director of the SFLC in a statement. "Because Verizon chose not to respond to our concerns, we had no choice but to file a lawsuit to ensure that they comply with the GPL."

So far, the SFLC has filed four lawsuits on behalf of the creators of BusyBox, but Verizon is the highest-profile target so far. The lawsuit against Verizon asks for damages, attorneys fees, and "all profits derived... from its unlawful acts," as well as an injunction barring the telecom from distributing BusyBox in any of its products,

Earlier this week, the MPAA removed its University Toolkit, a collection of applications designed to assist schools in cracking down on file-sharing, after Ubuntu technical board member Matthew Garrett informed the group that it, too, had violated the GPL by failing to include the source code for the open source utilities. An MPAA spokesperson told Ars that it would make sure it fully complied with the GPL before making the toolkit available. Asus also ran afoul of the GPL with the Eee PC, a situation that it quickly remedied. Like the MPAA and Asus situations, Verizon's apparent violation is likely the result of not fully grasping its obligations under the GPL as opposed to a willful misappropriation of IP.

Verizon has not responded to our request for comment on the lawsuit.

Eric Bangeman
Eric has been using personal computers since 1980 and writing about them at Ars Technica since 2003, where he currently serves as Managing Editor. Twitter@ericbangeman